ca^-jaifO 


Duke   University   Libraries 

Report  of  the  C 
Conf  Pam  #72 


SENATE,  April  i'8,    ISG.J. —  Five  hnn<lrcd  conies  orfloreil  to  bo 
printed. 

[By   Mr.  Clay.] 


COiMMITTEE  Ofi  MILITARY  AFFAIRS 


BILL  (H.  R.  28)  TO    INCREASE    THE    PAY  OF  ALL  NON- 
^   COMIMISSIONED  OFFICERS  AND  PRIVATES  IN  THE 
ARMIES  OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  STATES. 


The  Committee  on  Military  AiVuirs.  to  whoii\  -wag  referred  a  bill  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  No,  28,  entitled  ••  An  act  to  increase 
the  pay  of  all  non-coramissioned  officers  and  privates  in  the  army  of 
the  Confederate  States."  have  considered  the  s;ime  and  ask  leave  to 
i-eport — 

That,  during  the  last  session  of  Congress,  a  bill  providing  the 
same  increase  of  pay  for  the  non-commissioneil  officers  and  privates 
in  the  army  of  the  Confederate  States  passed  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, was  sent  to  the  Senate  and  was  referred  to  the  Military  Com- 
mittee, who  reported  it  back  with  an  amendment.  That  bill  and  the 
proposed  amendment  not  being  finally  acted  on  by  tlic  Senate  at 
the  last  session  of  Congress,  arc  (according  to  the  NVI  joint  rule 
adopted  by  the  two  Houses)  still  a  part  of  the  unfinished  business  ot 
the  Senate,  entitled  to  precedence  of  bills  introduced  at  the  present 
session,  and  might  have  been  called  up  for  action  at  any  time  since 
the  organization  of  the  Senate  on  the  loth  of  January  last.  In  con- 
sideration of  these  facts,  the  committee  deemed  it  wholly  unnecessary 
and  superogatory  to  report  back  this  bill,  until  the  original  bill  (of 
which  this  is  a  substantial  copy)  was  disposed  of  by  a  final  vote  of 


for,  thev  bee;  leave  to  state  t^iat  tliis  bill  -was  referred  to  tliera  on  the 
8th  instant,  and  that,  after  a  long  and  careful  deliberation,  they  can- 
not bring  themselves  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  either  necessary  or 
proper  to  pass  the  bill.  It -u-jll  not  add  to  the  strength  or  efficiency 
of  the  arln3^  Our  army  i?.  composed  of  citizen  soldiers  and  not  of 
foreign  mercenaries ;  they  are  lighting  «iot  for  pay  or  plunder,  but  for 
their  country,  iheir  homes,  their  families,  their  liberties,  their  honor. 
!Mon6y  cannot  measure  t-he  value  of  these  blessings  or  furnish  compen- 
sation for  their  los?,  or  stimulate  the  nobte  passions  Nvhi-jh  prompt 
men  to  die  ifi  their  defence.  To  protect  their  own  rights,  their  own 
property,  their  own  altars  and  firesides,  their  own  mothers,  v,'ives, 
daughters  and  sisters,  our  soldiers  rallied  to  arms,  and  they  will  not 
lay  them  down  until  they  are  secure.  They  will  encounter  all  perils 
and  endure  any  privations  and  pains  with  cheerfulness,  in  behalf  of 
objects  so  dear,  us  long  as  they  are  menaced  by  our  rapacious  and 
remorseless  foes.  They  did  not  enlist  for  the  poor  pittat^ce  of  ^eleven 
dollars  per  m,onth  ;  tenfold  that  sum  would  not  indemnify  them  for 
their  hazard  of  life,  limbs  and  health,  and  cannot  compensate  them 
for  their  heroic  sacrifices  and  suiterings.  As  thoy  did  not  enlist  for 
pay,  they  vrill  not  desert  or  serve  with,  less  zeal  or  energy  if  it  is  not 
increased.  They  have  not  asked  for  its  increase;  they  know  that 
their  <iovernment  has  not  the  revenue  or  the  resources  which  Avould 
emible  it  to  pay  them  the  wages  of  a,  substitute  or  hireling,  fighting 
for  others.  Fighting  for  themselves,  or  for  those  still  dearer  to  them, 
they  scorn  all  base  and  selfish  motives,  and  would  repel  with  indigna- 
tion the  attribution  to  them  of  a  purpose  or  an  inclination  to  strike  for 
higher  wages.  If  they  are  not  content  with  their  pay,  (as  the  committee 
believe)  tiiey  cannot  be  made  so  by  the  trifling  increase  of  four  dollars 
per  month.  A  sum  so  small  and  insufficient  to  satisfy  their  neces- 
sities or  gratify  their  fancies  would  but  mock  and  tantalize  them,  and 
tend  to  aggravate  rather  than  allay  discontent.  If  the  Senate  believe 
that  the  soldiers  of  our  army  demand  more  pay  it  will  be  far  better  to 
consolidate  the  sums  of  the  three  bills  sent  us  ])y  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, two  for  an  increase  of  pay  of  four  dollars  per  month, 
and  the  third  to  allow  five  dollars  per  montli  as  commutation  for 
deficiency  of  rations,  and  amend  the  bill  by  inserting  thirteen 
■instead  of  four  dollars.  This  would,  at  least,  bear  the  semblance  of 
a  purpose  on  the  part  ot  Congress  to  gratify  their  wishes,  notwith- 
standing twenty-four  dollars  in  Treasury  notes  would  probably  buy  for 
them  less  to-day  than  five  dollars  did  when  they  enlisted. 

But  this  committee  is  fully  persuaded  that  our  soldiers  neither 
demand  nor  desire  higher  pay  than  they  receive.  Men  who  have 
borne  as  they  have  all  the  privations  and  sufferings  incident  to  war  ; 
Avho  have  endured  the  scorching  heats  of  summer  and  the  pinching 
cold  of  winter,  the  sleet,  or  snow,  or  drenching  raiiren  the  midnight 
Watch,  and  the  gnawings  of  hunger  or  thirst  after  the  long  march,  the 
physical  pains  of  wounds  or  sickness,  and  the  mental  anguish  which 
the  loss  or  absence  of  friends  occasions,  all  without  repining  or  com- 
plaining, are  superior  to  the  low  and  sordid  souls  who  would  weigh 
their  own  gains  in  the  scales  with  the  independence  of  their  country. 


No,  this  increase  of"  p;iy  has  iiot  bce?:i  ;i3]:cd  for  by  the  sol-.licrs,  but      ^7^ 
by  friends  who  loveal  ViOt  iclsdy  cr  too  well.      Thi.s   nieasuro  did  not 
orifjinate  in  Congress,  but  in  the  Legif^hitures  cf  the  geveral  States. 

Within  the  first  year  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sitmtov,  the  I^egislatures 
of  several  of  the  States,  instructed  or  requested  their  Senators  and    4 
Ilcprosentativos  to  A-otc  for  ^hi.s   proposed  incrcagc  of  solaiersi  pay.   - 
When  they  di^l  so,  our  i^nna  had  m.et  witli   no  s.eriou:i  reverses ;  our      * 
successes  had  been  almost  unbroken  by  a  single  disaster  or  defeat;  tin* 
enemy  had  not  T)cnctvated  f:u-  beyond  the  connnes  of  the  Confederacy  ; 
tlio  war  had  not  assumed  or  indicated  it-:  nvese;  >  '•'"■  '■^ic  proportioii.s  ; 
our  forces  then  in  the  field  wore  deemed  adc((':  -  defence  ;•  our 

treasury  notes  vrcro  rtjual  to  our  best  currciicy,  aua  a  sliort  war  -.xw^l 
an  early  peace  v»-cro  anticipated.  Since  they  did  so,  our  enemies  have 
seized  many  cf  our  .stronghohls  and  a  large  p;irt  of  our  territory  ; 
have  captured  or  destroyed  most  of  our  gun-boatN\  have  gotten  tin> 
command  of  many  of  bur  rivers,  have  pushed  tncir  armies  far  into  the 
interior  of  our  country  ;  have  closely  blockaded  our  coast ;  liave  mul- 
tiplied their  forces  fourfold,  botii  by  land  and  by  sea,  and  have  made 
the  most  formidable  prcpar.ttions.  for  a  long,  relentless  and  extermi- 
nating war.  They  have  also  invoked  the  aid  of  foreign  and  of  black 
mercenaries,  and  have  endeavored  to  excite  servile  insurrection  in  our  .  -.^ 

midst.  Oatrage,  rapine  and  destruction  attest  their  malignant,  vindic-  •:;^-.  ^ 
tive  and  remorseless  hostility,  ;md  ruin  and  desolation  mark  thp  pro-  '^J^^ 
gross  of  their  armies.  They  destroy  whatever  is  valuable  that  they  V^<'  .^ 
cannot  appropriate.  They  hope  and  strive  to  achieve  more  by  the  aid  .'"j?^-  -r 
of  fire  and  famine  than  by  the  sword  and  the  bayonet.  Our  fields  and 
fences,  our  dwellings  and  granaries,  our  mills  and  gin  houses,  our 
implements  of  husbandry  and  tools  of  trade  they  consume  with  fire, 
and  our  slaves  and  beasts  of  bunden  they  carry  off  and  employ  against 
us.  They  have  constrained  us  in  self-defence  to  increase  our  armies 
and  our  expenditures  in  proportion  to  their  preparations  for  our  sub- 
jugation. We  are  daily  expending  more  than  our  Aveekly  expenditures 
were  when  these  demands  for  increase  of  pay  began.  We  have  already 
created  a  large  debt,  to  pay  the  interest  of  Avhich  alone  will  rcqilire 
very  ho«vy  taxation,  and  yet  are  unavoidably  increasing  that  debt  at 
a  rate  which  would  be  inexcusable  and  intolerable,  if  it  were  not  for 
the  sake  of  public  liberty.  Wq  h{ive  strained  our  credit  as  far  as  we 
can  without  hazarding  its  loss,  in  drder'to  raise  means  to  support  our 
armies  and  to  prosecute  the  war  for  our  independence.  We  have  been 
compelled  to  multiply  the  issues  of  our  treasury  notes  until  they  have 
become  so  much  cheapened,^  and  the  cost  of  productions  so  much 
enhanced,  that  it  now  requires  four  times  the  sum  that  was  required 
eighteen  months  since  to  purchase,  the  same  supplies  for  our  army. 
To  absorb  our  redundant  circulation,  reduce  our  indebtedness  and 
provide  for  our  defence.  Congress  has  just  passed  a  Tax  Bill  which 
will  exact  of  our  people  in  money  and  in  kind,  nearly  S2(){),()i)0,()0(), 
for  the  current  year.  The  condition  of  our  countrj^ ;  the  state  of  our 
finances  ;  the  great  debt  already  incurred,  and  which  must  be  greatly 
increased  ;  the  depreciation  of  our  currency  ;  the  impoverished  circum- 
stances of  those  parts  of  our  territory  which  may  have  been  occupied 

P33858 


\)y  tlic  enemy  ;  the  high  taxes  already  imposed  and-  which  must  be 
imposed  for  many  years  to  come,  -all  admonii*h  us  that  Congress  should 
not  add  to  the  urirthcns  of  the  people  more  th:\u  is  absolutely  necessary 
tQ  secure  their  liberties. 

The  soldiers  who  are  to  receive  this  increased  pay  must  contribute 
in  taxes  to  provide  it.  They  are  tax-payers  as  well  as  warriors,  and 
must  return  tvo  the  treasury  the  raonsj  which  we  are  voting  them. 
They  can  gain  nothing  by  our  appropriations  of  their  money  to  their 
use,  but  may  loss  what  they  cannot  regain,  if  we  destroy  the  credit 
of  our  currency  and  reduce  the  government,  to  bankruptcy  by  extrava- 
gant appropriations  and  excessive  issues  of  treasury  notes. 

If  this  bill  become  a  law,  the  committee  think  it  will  add  from 
twenty  to  thirty  millions  of  dollars  to  the  annual  expenditures  of  the 
government,  a  sum  sufficient  to  defray  all  the  expenses  of  all  our 
State  Governments  for  several  years.  But  in  its  baneful  inHuence 
upon  the  currency,  it  will  probablj''  be  rauc^i  more  sorely  felt;  it  will 
cost  us  perhaps  more  than  double  that  sum  in  the  depreciation  of  our 
treasury  notes.  In  the  opinion  of  the  committee^  $l()n,{)iK), ()()',)  will 
scarce  cover  what  it  will  cost, within  the  first  year  after  its  enactment. 
It  may  defeat  ail  our  eiforts  by  funding  our  treasury  notes,  and  by 
taxing  our  property  to  maintain  our  credit,  redeem  our  paper  issues, 
and  meet  the  demands  of  our  creditors.  Our  best  reliance,  next  to 
our  brave  soldiers,  is  upon  our  credit.  With  soldiers  and  with  credit 
we  can  fight  on  and  fight  forever.  We  cannot  support  armies  with- 
out credit,  and  cannot,  therefore,  afford  to  lose  it.  AVe  cannot 
largely  increase  our  circulation  or  expenditures  without  destroying 
our  credit.  The  committee,  therefore,  cannot  recommend  the  adop- 
tion of  this  bill,  which  will,  at  least,  endrnger  the  credit  of  the 
government. 

The  committee  do  not  believe  that  the  proposed  increase  of  pay  will 
add  to  the  comforts  or  supply  the  wants  of  the  soldier.  Although 
four  dollars  to  our  soldiers  may  make  in  the  aggregate  from  two  to 
three  millions  against  the  government,  per  month,  it  will  be  an  in- 
considerable tnfie  to  each  soldier.  Four  dollars  would  now  scarcely 
suffice  to  buy  a  single  article  of.  clothing,  or  a  days  board, .or  two 
■week"s  rations  of  tobacco.  If  we  scatter  from  $20, ( )()(), OOU  to 
$3(),0!)0,00n  more  in  treasury  notes  among  our  armies,  their  conse- 
quent depreciation  and  the  increase  of  prices,  will  render  fifteen  dol- 
lars of  no  more  value  to  the  soldier  than  eleven  dollars  is  at  present. 
The  government  will  lose  its  twenty  or  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  to 
be  pai<l  for  in  taxes  hereafter  by  the  soldiers,  and  the  soldier  will  not 
gain  even  the  forty-eight  dollars  ostensibly  advanced  to  him.  It  will 
prove  in  the  end  to  the  soldier  a  delusion  and  a  snare. 

If  the  Senate  should  pass  all  the  bills  sent  to  it  by  the  House  of 
Representatives,  for  increase  of  pay  and  commutation  of  rations,  al- 
lowing an  increase  of  thirteen  <lollars  a  month  to  each  non-commis- 
sioned officer  and  private,  and  the  President  should  approve  them,  the 
increased  annual  expenditures  resulting  therefrom,  cannot  be  lets  than 
$60,1)00,000,  and  may  reach  $100,000,000.  But  can  any  intelligent 
mind  doubt  that  such  legislation  would  be  of  no  benefit  to  the  soldier. 


while  it  would  bring  the  government  to  bankruptcy.  Indeed  it  would 
be  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing  t)  the  soldier.  It  would  so  cheapen 
the  treasury  notes,  and  so  enhance  the  cost  of  every  product  of  labor, 
that  he  would  not  probably  be  able  to  buy  half  as  much  with  his 
twenty  dollars,  as  he  had  done  with  his  eleven  dollars.  It  would  ex- 
cite universal  distrust  and,iilarra  among  the  capitalists  of  our  country, 
would  arrest  all  funding  of  our  treasury  notes,  and  all  loans  to  the 
government.  It  would  be  deemed  by  them  an  act  of  fatuity  or  a 
crime,  evincing  a  lack  of  the  virtue  or  the  ability  necessary  to  pre- 
serve the  resources  and  discharge  the  debts  of  the  Confederacy.  The 
soldier  would  gain  nothing,  but  would  probably  lose  by  the  increase 
of  pay  in  the  present,  and  would  have,  in  the  future,  to  bear  his 
share  of  the  burthens  of  heavy  taxation,  in  order  to  pay  the  price  of 
this  ill-judged  liberality  towards  himself. 

.Vt  previous  ses.^ions  of  Congress  this  measure  was  urged  mainly 
upon  the  ground  of  the  increased  price  of  clothing  and  other  articles 
of  necessity,  and  the  inadequacy  of  the  soldier's  pay  for  their  pur- 
chase. This  reason  for  passing  this  bill  no  longer  exists  ;  Congress 
has  now  assumed  the  duty  and  expense  of  clothing  the  soldier.  Be- 
sides, Congress  has  voted  fifty  dollars  bounty  to  all  soldiers  continued 
in  service,  recruited  or  enlisted  for  the  war,  and  has  pledged  those 
continued  in  service  a  furlough,  with  transportation  home  and  back, 
or  the  commutation  value  in  money  of  their  transportation  ;  thus  as- 
suming to  give  the  soldier  more  than  twice  the  proposed  increase  of 
pay  for  any  oae  year,  and  quite  as  much  as  would  be  realized  in  pay 
in  three  years.  The  government  is  now  laboring  under  great  difficul- 
ties and  at  alarming  cost,  in  order  to  redeem  its  pledges  to  the  soldier 
and  to  provide  him  with  the  bare  necessaries  of  life. 

The  committee  believe  that  a  large  majority  of  our  soldiers  do  not 
need  or  desire  any  increase  of  their  pay,  that  they  are  themselves 
independent  in  fortune,  or  have  relatives  and  friends  on  whose  assis- 
tance they  can  confidently  rely.  Of  the  minority  who  may  not  have 
property  or  friends  on  whom  to  rely  for  support,  but  few  could  use 
their  pay  advantageously  while  engaged  in  the  army,  unless  they  have 
families  at  home  in  need  of  it,  to  whom  they  could  and  would  trans- 
mit it.  If  it  were  possible  for  Congress  to  make  such  discrimination 
as  to  provide  increased  pay  only  for  those  in  need,  or  for  their  fami- 
lies, it  might  be  proper  to  do  so,  not  merely  for  their  sakes,  but  be- 
cause it  would  not  probably  require  one-fourth  of  the  sum  which  will 
be  required  if  this  bill  becomes  a  law. 

The  committee  are  further  constrained  to  oppose  this  bill  by  a  con- 
sideration of  the  claims  of  the  maimed  and  indigent  soldiers,  or  the 
indigent  families  of  deceased  soldiers,  upon  the  sympathy  and  assis- 
tance of  their  government.  When  we  consider  that  the  United  States 
government  expended  from  one  to  two  millions  of  dollars  annually  in 
pensions,  how  much  greater  must  be  our  expenditure  if  we  provide  for 
our  soldiers  or  their  families  !  While  the  soldiers  of  the  revolution  of 
1776  and  of  subsequent  wars  of  the  United  States  can  be  told  by 
thousands,  ours  must  be  told  by  hundreds  of  thousands  ;  and  our  indi- 
gent and  disabled  3oldi^]r|,^wadigent  families  of  deceased  soldiers 


must  exceed  those  of  the  United  States  in  like  proportion.  Would  it 
not  be  juster  and  v>her  and  more  acf^eptable  to  our  brave  and  generous 
soldiers  to  save  the  large  sum  annually  required  by  this  bill  for  the 
future  support  of  their  poor^ul  helpless  brothers  in  arras  or  the  poor 
families  of  thcjwifallen  anfTrecorded  dead. 

These  are  some  of  the  ^iisiderations  Avhicli  have  influenced  the 
committee  in  recommending  that  the  bill  do  not  pass.  They  cannot 
forbear  adding  another,  "which  they  would  gladly  suppress  if  justice 
to  themselves,  to  their  country  and  to  the  soldiers  did  not  require  its 
utterance.  It  is,  that,  in  their  opinion,  this  war  will  probably  last  for 
several  years,  and  we  cannot  foresee  our  condition  ere  it  closes. 
Pressed  on  every  side  by  a  powerful,  barbarous  and  rapacious  foe, 
without  a  friend  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  and  compelled  to 
work  out  our  own  deliverance  through  a  harder  ordeal  than  ever  any 
people  were  subjected  to,  it  seems  to  us  the  part  of  wisdom  to  *'  let 
well  enough  alone."  Our  soldiers  must  be  armed,  fed  and  clothed  to 
ensure  the  salvation  of  our  cause,  and  we  are  hard  strained  to  furnish 
them  the  indispensable  articles  af  arms,  food  and  raiment.  Let  us 
not  promise  more  than  we  can  perform,  or  fail  to  achieve  our  indepen- 
dence by  destroying  our  credit. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted. 


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